Hebraisms

I’m sure if you spent anytime in church you have been told that sin is missing the mark, and so it is.

The Hebrew word chata’ means to sin, and roots from the word to miss the mark, go wrong. No training or knowledge is needed to miss the mark. We are all perfectly capable of messing up our aim.

However what you most likely weren’t told was that the Law or rather the Hebrew word Torah means instruction, and roots from the word to throw or shoot. It is hitting the mark. No one ever picks up a weapon and hits the mark on the very first try. All need to be trained in the proper handling and firing of any armament.

So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. Gal. 3:24

The church calls for repentance but never really explains what that means. “Keep the faith” they say. Well, how do I do that? “Just believe in Jesus.” What exactly does that mean? In fact the only concrete rule they ever come up with is tithing.

Torah is the mark. It was designed by God to point to the true way to walk, with God and man. How can one repent, which means to turn and go the other way, unless one knows where the other way is or where the new mark is? How do we love God? There is a whole bunch of rules in Torah on what He expects from His children. How do we love our neighbors? There is also a whole bunch or rules on what that is like in Torah as well.

Faith is taught by example. The stories of Noah, Abraham, Joseph etc. are all in the Torah. One cannot begin to understand being “justified by faith” without a working knowledge of the Torah. It is a mark we simple cannot begin to see let alone hit without instruction.

Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44

We must study the Old Testament to find Messiah. There is just no other way. Messiah’s teachings were all based on what had been written about Him. He explained what the Torah truly required to follow God, and He called the teachers of his day “Torah-breakers” a condition that the Church has fully embraced to their own detriment. While they preach of a coming lawless one, they do not see their own lawlessness.

Like English the Hebrews word for earth ‘eretz can mean the planet or just land, or a particular piece of land, usually Israel. The Hebrew for dirt or dust is ‘adamah, from which the Hebrew for human, adam is derived. [See Also: Four Kinds of Men] When you think about it, it is an odd thing to call our planet Earth when it is 71% water. But we humans don’t live on the water, we live on the earth. So earth it is.

There is also a need when looking into the use of this word to separate poetry from historical narrative.

Flat Earth

Sometime the Text appears to mean that the earth is flat, some kind of pancake floating in water.

6 And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. Gen. 1:6-8

There was a time when continental drift was just a theory. I remember spending many hours with my school mates contemplating whether this could be true or not. From our childlike perception the only real evidence was that South American looks like a perfect fit for the arm pit of Africa, but nothing else look like a fit to us. Then there was a map of the Atlantic Ocean floor made from many sonar soundings. There was a zipper down the middle, right were the continents had broken apart. There was the proof for a long argued theory. The continents had one time been one giant continent that the scientist call Pangea. (See Also: Wikipedia’s post on Pangea, just ignore the time scale)

Well, it turns out this Pangea was pretty much what the first three chapters of Genesis described. A largely flat surface surrounded by water. This was the way our planet was until-

To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. Gen. 10:25

The Four Corners

As a largely spherical object the earth does not have corners. However every language, culture, or people group have four cardinal directions. In English that is north, south, east and west. The use of this phrase in the Bible is to include everywhere, and not meant as a geography lesson.

He will raise an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Is. 11:12

Ezekiel speaks of both the land and the earth. In this next verse the land of Israel is ‘adamah Israel, a phrase that is meant to remind one of our creation from the dust or ‘adamah of the earth.

“And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.” Ezek. 7:2

For some reason the translators have it here as the four corner of the land but in Hebrew it is ‘eretz.

Round Earth

The writers of the Bible, as with most ancient cultures, knew the Earth was round. Only the Pope ever thought it wasn’t, and since he put those who disagreed with him into the INQUISITION, most people kept their mouths shut.

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; Is. 40:22

When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, Prov. 8:27

God does not forget, nor does He need to be reminded. The Hebrew zakhar doesn’t always mean remember the way English does. It can also mean; protecting, deliver, to do a favor for, or keep a promise, intervene on behalf of, or grant a request,

Noah’s Ark by Edward Hicks – 1846

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; Gen. 8:1

Then God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb. Gen. 30:22

Joseph used ‘remember in the same way when he asked Pharaoh’s butler to give a favorable report to Pharaoh about Joseph’s talents.

But remember me, when it is well with you, and do me the kindness, I pray you, to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. Gen. 40:14

Broken Covenant

. . . then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. Lev. 26:42

And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. Num. 10:9

The children of Israel may not keep their end of the bargain, however God will keep His promise.

Samson

Samson’s Fight with the Lion by Lucas Cranach the Elder – 1525

Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes.” Judg. 16:28 ¶

When Samson asked to be remembered, it is not that he thought God had forgotten him, but rather that somehow the prophecy of his life would come to fulfillment.

. . . for lo, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” Judg. 13:5

Samuel

And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy maidservant, and remember me, and not forget thy maidservant, but wilt give to thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” 1Sam. 1:11

Hannah asked for the blessing of a son and when the blessing was granted the Hebrew uses this phrase that she was remembered.

They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her; 1Sam. 1:19

Forgetting

The only time God forgets, is when He has done it on purpose. God promises a blessing in that He will not remember His children’s sin.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Heb. 8:12

Remembering a Curse

The corrupted Church of Rome is cursed to drink Babylon’s cup.

The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. Rev. 16:19

What cup you may ask, why the same one ancient Babylon had made.

Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine, therefore the nations went mad. Jer. 51:7

The drunkenness of Babylon is the false Religion of the Mysteries started at the Tower, where the main teachings is that a priest will stand between a person and the god. These priest always teach that all roads lead to God, and there is a mother goddess. The great mystery is that all gods are the same god only he is called by different names in different places.

The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; Rev. 17:4

Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed. Rev. 18:6

I have no idea what a double draught of the Crusades and INQUISITION might look like, but I think I will watch from the other side of the globe.

This is another one of those times when things get lost in translation. English has no equivalent word for korban, so the English reader never makes the connections that are present in the Hebrew. There is never a deeper understanding of the intimacy of the korban sacrifices.

Korban, depending on whether it is a noun or verb, can mean: offerings, sacrifices, oblations, or intimate, innermost parts of the body, or near kinsman or neighbor, or hand to hand combat. It is hard to translate all those meanings and still hold the cohesion of the word. To get a feel for the word here are some examples of how it is translated.

FYI: Red words indicate these that are korban in the Hebrew. It’s a little hard to go back and forth between the Hebrew and the English because some times the English leaves the word out completely.

In Leviticus 2, the unleavened bread or matzah bread is called the korban throughout the passage. In the Hebrew it is the korban minchah ma’afeh, or korban offering that is baked.

“When you bring a cereal offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil. Lev. 2:4

It is not just the matzah that is korban so are the animals.

“If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD, Lev. 3:12

The insides of the animal sacrifice.

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. Ex. 12:9

Ehud presents a korban tribute to Eglon. The meaning was that this tributes was to enable some kind of relationship between the Moabite kingdom and the Children of Israel.

And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that carried the tribute. Judg. 3:18

Later in Ezekiel the people are condemned for bringing a korban to the high places of the tree worship i.e. Christmas.

For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their soothing odors, and there they poured out their drink offerings. Ezek. 20:28

Non-Sacrificial Uses

We get an even better feeling for the word looking at the passages where Korban occurs in a non-sacrificial sense all over the Old Testament.

Sarah laughed to her inner self, or korban.

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” Gen. 18:12

Those who are inside Sodom and Gomorra.

Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Gen. 18:24

To have fellowship between God or men.

. . . he shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place which he shall choose within one of your towns, where it pleases him best; you shall not oppress him. Deut. 23:16

The sojourner who is among you shall mount above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower. Deut. 28:43

But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?” Josh. 9:7

So the people of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; Judg. 3:5

The Children of Israel felt a need to have some kind of physical presents with them in battle.

And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 1Sam. 4:3

Hand to hand combat, a very close up and personal way to kill.

But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beer-sheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 2Sam. 17:11

Intimacy with God

The korban sacrifices were meant to open an intimate conversation with the Lord God of Israel, a meeting between ones inner most self and the Creator. Translating it as simply a sacrifice puts the attention on the victim, and not on the relationship it was to open.

And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 1Chr. 16:1

And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls. 2Chr. 35:12

Jeremiah speaks of a time when their ruler shall issue from amidst them, and I will cause him to draw near.

Their prince shall be one of themselves, their ruler shall come forth from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? says the LORD. Jer. 30:21

This korban was a way to open your inner most self to a relationship with the Lord God of Israel.
The writer to the Hebrews uses this idea to explain that our intimate relationship with God can now be more perfect. We now have a more perfect korban, through which we can if we choose draw closer to our God.

(for the law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. Heb. 7:19

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near. Heb. 10:1

Corban in the New Testament

This is one of those passages in the New Testament that was “hard to understand” largely because an English reader has no concept of korban.

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God) — 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do.” Mark 7:9-11

Messiah admonishes the people that giving to God without consideration of taking care of your responsibilities, is no way to get close to God.

Draw Near to God

The temple is now gone, there are no more korban sacrifices to be made. All that was literal must now in the Kingdom be spiritual.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. James 4:8

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Rom. 12:1

. . . and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1Pet. 2:5

To live a sacrificial life, our morning prayer should be how may I serve the King?